To develop an online community on social media from the ground up, we needed an approach that considered how pharmaceutical companies could share information and allow smokers and supporters to engage with each other on social media in line with the limited regulatory guidance available regarding social media.

Smokers can benefit from support to quit in real-time through channels they regularly interact with. The goal was clear: innovate in an area over run with repetitive and, sometimes, ineffective messaging to markedly change the current quitting process, which is characterized as being difficult, isolating, and expensive, by encouraging smokers to see their smoking as a health issue with a call-to-action to discuss with a healthcare professional. To do so, we wanted to make sure we had the support of experts by aligning with a natural leader in the smoking cessation arena. Together, we could help smokers overcome some of the barriers many of them face: the absence of a detailed plan to quit, the involvement of their HCP and a lack of social and financial support. In order to change the conversation, we wanted to build the right forum and create relevant, engaging content to begin the dialogue.

We collaborated with a notable third party nonprofit to launch Quitter’s Circle, a content-driven digital, social and mobile ecosystem where smokers and supporters can connect, share experiences and motivate each other. The campaign launched with national and local media, with the true strength of the media approach leveraging the power of third party partner’s reach.

The heart of Quitter’s Circle is an online community and mobile app. On the website, magazine-style content offers inspiration and tips and users can connect with an HCP online or find one nearby for an appointment. Daily content on Facebook and Twitter and live interaction between users creates engaged communities. Through the app, friends and family can join a Quit Team to track their quitter’s progress in real-time, offer inspiration in the form of Quit Cards and receive alerts when they need some support.

Quitter’s Circle has been a resounding success and was the first industry-sponsored app to integrate with Apple Watch. Success was evaluated on key objectives:

Help foster an online community

• Grew Facebook community of 100,000+ in less than one year

• 140,000+ Facebook fans with 730,000 engagements and 187% monthly average growth (Pfizer Facebook has an average rate of 5%)

• Twitter handle noted by Twitter as “Best-In-Class” for unbranded healthcare communications in the industry

• 18,500+ Twitter followers

Create a new platform to help encourage smokers in their quit attempts

• Over 490,000 QuittersCircle.com visits (22% engagement rate, 3.5 minutes on site)

• 3,300 app downloads

Collaboration with American Lung Association

• Featured in Lung.org content and LungNews Monthly articles

The target audience for Quitter’s Circle includes both smokers who are looking to quit as well as supporters who want to aid quitters in their smoking cessation attempts. To support the campaign, the team conducted a survey of 2,500 Americans exploring barriers that prevent people from successfully quitting smoking. Primarily, research showed that smokers a.) did not have a plan in place to quit, b.) were not discussing quitting with their HCP, and c.) needed social and financial support to quit. The heart of Quitter’s Circle is an online community and mobile app, designed to help smokers face common obstacles associated with quitting. We needed to provide smokers with something different. A new way to look at “their quit.” A new way to show they didn’t need to go through this alone. An innovative way to find help.

Smoking is the number one cause of preventable death in the country. Smoking cessation is a competitive marketplace, but Quitter’s Circle is unique as it is designed to facilitate critical quit behaviors through the social support of a quitter’s friends and family and HCP-mediated quit. Our team was tasked with developing a program to help prospective quitters achieve success with tips, tools and inspiration for becoming a non-smoker. Our key objectives therefore were to help foster an online community to motivate, encourage and help smokers who are ready to attempt a quit to do so, and encourage smokers to see smoking as medical condition with a call-to-action to consult with a HCP.